(a) Relevant Field
The present disclosure relates to a backlight unit and a liquid crystal display (LCD) including the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is one of the most widely used display devices today. Generally, the LCD displays an image by filling a liquid crystal material between an upper substrate formed with common electrodes, color filters, and the like, and a lower substrate formed with thin film transistors, pixel electrodes, and the like, applying different voltages to the pixel and common electrodes to generate an electric field, thereby changing arrangement of liquid crystal molecules, and finally adjusting transmittance of light. An LCD panel of the LCD is in itself a non-emissive type of light receiving element, so the LCD generally includes a backlight unit for supplying light to the LCD panel at a rear side thereof.
As a light source for the backlight unit, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) has been widely used, since it consumes less power and provides bright white light.
Recently, a light emitting diode (LED) has been gaining popularity since it has superior color reproducibility, a longer lifespan, and less power consumption.
The backlight unit may be classified into an edge type and a direct type depending on where a light source is positioned in relation to the LCD panel. In the edge type, a light source is positioned at a lateral side of the LCD panel to provide light through a light guide plate, whereas in the direct type, a light source is positioned at a rear side of the LCD panel to provide light thereto. In terms of space utilization and design aspects, there is a demand for a slimmer display device, making the thickness of a backlight unit a major factor in manufacturing the slimmer display device.
The edge type is preferable to the direct type for making a slimmer backlight unit. However, in the edge type of backlight unit, the edge closest to the light source is thicker than the other edges, posing a challenge in realizing a slimmer backlight unit.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.